Mister Roberts (1955)

Nominee

This was a respectable but recognizably forgettable movie. I enjoyed the ending and I liked most of the characterization but I think this movie suffered from pacing issues. And in this context it is tricky. You are trying to emulate the boredom of the sailors that have been out to sea for months, without losing your audience. Well I think they lost us in the first half of the movie. Yet there was redemption in, as I mentioned, the characters and the overall plot that made me stick with it and enjoy a very memorable ending.

This is an all-star cast. James Cagney is as hard hitting as ever as the self serving captain who cares more about his palm tree than his sailors. Henry Fonda as Mister Roberts, gives us a subtle but poignant performance of a man who wants to help his crew as much as he wants to leave. William Powell joined the cast out of retirement in order to play the archetypal doctor that we all know and love. And last but not least, we have the comedic genius that is Jack Lemmon who gives us not only the most jokes of the movie, but also the greatest moment of the entire movie. The ending! Of course, we could not have gotten there without Mister Roberts character, but it is Jack Lemmon that keeps us through the movie.

The plot is simple, you have the captain who is only interested in his own upward mobility. And the other officers who are fighting his self motivating machine. This is interesting but the dialogue is often slow and not particularly attention holding. Also there are long shots of the ocean, which the first few are beautiful but they start to get repetitious. It is, however, in Mister Roberts final act of defiance, and Jack Lemmon's repetition of this act later that make the movie as a whole enjoyable. There is nothing like a good sticking it to the man moment, they always reach the audience.  

Overall: If you have run out of movies to watch and your looking to fill two hours then give it a try. Just don't make an event out of it you will probably be disappointed.  However I assure you if you make it to the end, you will feel triumphant. I kinda feel this review wasn't very helpful so I will end with one closing statement to make it as clear as possible. The beginning is boring, the ending is good, now go ahead and take your chances.